Proof of Existence
by MadokaKotone
Summary: When Naruto finds a couple of scrolls in his office shortly after becoming Hokage, he only wants two questions answered: "Who is Minato?" and "Who is Kushina?" Non-canon. Slight Naruto/Sakura, Minato/Kushina as the story goes on.
1. First Findings

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_.

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I.

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The sun's rays flittered through the windows of the Hokage tower as birds chirped lovingly melodies into the gentle breeze. One could hear the sounds of markets opening shop and the early steam of restaurants cooking rice and broth in their kitchens. Konoha citizens strolled through the streets with smiling faces and exchanged friendly greetings with passersby, for it was the start of a good era.

Thanks to the new Hokage, of course.

Everyone was relieved, to say the least. Legend has it that Naruto Uzimake had finally ended the war with the help of Sakura Haruno and ironically, Sasuke Uchiha. If he hadn't killed his best friend in the most crucial fight of any war ever witnessed by Man, things would have gotten a lot worse. Naruto would not have been able to defeat Madara before he unleashed the powers of the tailed-beasts, and with him gone, everything else seemed to fall into place. Negotiations were made between the warring nations, and only one peace treaty was enough to sustain the whole world. Surprisingly, the son of the Yellow Flash took part in constructing this treaty. Apparently, he had a knack for oratory.

Even though fighting Sasuke and bringing him back to Konoha had been his wish for the longest time, Naruto would never have guessed that he would bring his best friend back to Konoha a dead man. When he made the decree that he would fight Sasuke and that they would both die, he never would have guessed that he would be brought back to life from the overwhelming nature energy stored in his chakra system, which in turn got his heart to start beating again after a few minutes. What pained Naruto the most was the fact that he saw Sasuke—the real Sasuke he knew—after their last hit. He saw the sparkle in his eye that implied that he was smiling and he saw the words he mouthed. He was looking forward to spending a whole lot of time with him in the next life. The coming nights after he killed Sasuke, he kept having dreams, moreso reenactments of what Sasuke said to him right before they both blacked out. The words took a stab to his heart, and Naruto started to believe that his words were the finishing point of his life in the first place. He would never forget them:

Goodbye…

Friend.

Naruto wiped the incoming tears from his eyes with his sleeve before they could reach the wooden desk. Trying to take his mind off the subject, he blankly studied the Hokage's—his—office with a scowl. It didn't take long for him to get sidetracked. How boring could a room get? He opened the drawer in front of him, but there was nothing in it save for a few black letters seemingly etched on the side. He closed it again and continued his thoughts. Sure, he knew the plainness was only for his own safety. If there was even one other piece of furniture, an assassin could use that as a hiding place. Still, Naruto was not the kind of person who went for something toosimple. He had to have at _least _a plant to keep him company, for goodness' sake. He noted to himself to get some plants from his garden when he retired back to his house. Then he wondered if they were still being tended to… He slumped; he didn't really tell anyone to take care of his babies in the first place. Oh, well.

Nevertheless, a plant would be nice to have. The Hokage then imagined an ANBU Black Ops trying to hide behind a tulip, which made him smile slightly. The thought dissipated from his mind too soon, though, for he slipped into boredom again. There was no one in the room to keep him company because he gave everyone a day off, so he spun around in his chair to face outside. Maybe there was a commotion outside he could watch? An infiltration he could muzzle? A sign of Sakura wandering the streets?

…

This was agonizing.

He did not expect the job of Hokage to be this bland. Now he could understand why Tsunade was so irritated: so much paperwork and missions to control yet nothing entertaining to do. And Naruto couldn't even drink yet, but he would never consult to that. Not even a copy of Jiraiya's _Icha Icha Fantasy _to amuse him. He would have picked reading that over doing any of the work on his desk, too.

With an exasperated sigh, he got up and stretched his sore limbs. Smiling to himself out of the pure happiness from achieving his dream, he picked up his formal hat from the table and felt it over with his thumb.

_You are my heir, after all._

Naruto could feel the tears coming again. Boy, was he being a little too emotional for his taste today. Screw it, he couldn't help but feel the surge of happiness again. When he found out he was the son of the Fourth Hokage, that was the most overwhelming, joyful moment of his life. That feeling would stick in the back of his mind forever. After not knowing who he was for his whole life, he was glad to have at least something to tell people when they asked about it. Who are you? The Fourth Hokage's son.

Yeah, that sounded nice.

"Dad…" Naruto looked up and at the door, as if he were talking to Minato face-to-face, "You were right…" He set the hat down on the table and walked around the room with his arms crossed and face beaming. Naruto thought about the conversation over and over again, replaying it in his head way too vividly. After pacing for what seemed like hours, he stopped and looked down at his feet, hands resting on his hips.

What was this feeling? It felt like… relief. Relief from finding out his identity, the truth. The truth that was locked away from him for sixteen years because the Third Hokage wished it.

Naruto thought about how supportive his dad was. After meeting him face-to-face, he felt a certain peace about him. His voice sounded so reassuring that Naruto wanted to talk to him for hours on end. There was a certain air about him, an air of greatness. The cloak he wore seemed to reinforce his image as a powerful, highly-regarded shinobi, and the youthful look in his eye contrasted beautifully. Then Naruto thought about his dad's words… It amazed him that even though his dad spoke little, he felt as if he was given overflowing wisdom. The Fourth Hokage, Naruto thought, was the best. And he believed in me…

"You believed in me," he said aloud. He didn't care if anyone listened at the moment anyway, "I didn't let you down. I'm your heir _after_ all. I wish you could see me now… Dad," Naruto grinned again. Truth be told, he was just happy that he could use that word and see the face of who it stood for. Then, that was when he wondered to himself:

Who is Mom?

He walked a couple more steps before he heard a small thump in the drawer.

In a flash Naruto spun around to face the desk with a kunai in his hand, eyes painted with the sage markings. Seeing that there was nothing there, the boy took cautious steps toward his desk and rounded the right corners to get to his seat. Standing in front of the drawer, he looked around for any sign of movement. Above? Beneath? Left? Right? No… Naruto stared at the drawer with narrow eyes. Something was _inside. _

Swallowing air, Naruto slowly opened the wooden compartment, kunai ready. When he saw what was in there, he stared in awe.

A bundle of scrolls.

There was nothing in there the first time he checked, and he would not have missed that. How…?

They were tied by a red string and they looked pretty old. The scrolls were worn and crumpled, but in their own way looked surprisingly neat. Out of Sage Mode now, Naruto blinked a couple times before slowly reaching for the pack. It wasn't until he picked up the bundle that he realized how heavy it was. He switched the pack from left hand to right, wondering if he should unfasten the string holding them neatly together. Only a couple more minutes passed before the Hokage decided that he had nothing else to do anyway.

Instead of untying the string, Naruto just slid the top scroll out from underneath it. Setting the bundle on top of his desk, he took a seat in his chair and opened the loose flap of the worn-out paper in his hands. On the top part of the scroll was the name 'Kushina' and it was dated. Naruto took it out and opened it to find very neat handwriting in eerily straight lines, straighter than Jiraiya's. Looking around one more time for eavesdroppers, Naruto only spotted two birds fluttering about outside his office window. Seeing that the coast was clear, he began to read:

_Dear Kushina,_

_The territory we were sent to guard is not all that bad. Most of the posts have already been conquered and overtaken by Konoha forces before we got here. Our captain has us situated in the C12 unit, which happens to be the least guarded, but do not worry. Since this place is not heavily guarded, it means that it is just used for look-out duty. We have two Hyuugas joining our ranks, so nothing within 900 kilometers will come as a surprise to us. The supplies here are meager, but we will manage. _

_I have been working on a new jutsu that reminds of you. Although it is not near perfection, I will inform you when I make a little progress. _

_I hope you are making yourself at home. I know my house is not that extravagant, but I know you always make the best of things. Did you see the flowers that I got for you? Hopefully they are not withered already; I would like it if you started a little garden in my yard for me. You have a knack for gardening, Kushina. _

_Well, I have to go now; it is time for my shift. Write back when you can, you know how much I love hearing from you. _

_Sincerely,_

_Minato_

Naruto squinted his eyes after reading the letter. Who is Kushina? Who is Minato?

...Was this a joke?

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To be continued...

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Note: I have been working on this story for some time. Currently, I think I am already up to three chapters. Let me know if you want me to continue! Thanks for reading.


	2. Kushina's Reply

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_.

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II.

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No, it couldn't have been fake; it didn't feel fake. This really was a real letter to someone in the past, and a very sweet one to be exact.

Scanning over the letter again, he read for any clues that might have revealed who these people were, but the only thing he really caught was that this girl Kushina was a good gardener. He didn't know many people that tended to their gardens anymore; he could only think of Kurenai-sensei and a few others. Even _he_ was guilty of leaving his plants unattended, but he had a fairly good reason for that kind of neglect. Naruto pondered over the letter, mesmerized by how neat the handwriting was: every space between each letter was identical, and each space between each word was the same. Whoever this Minato was was definitely OCD. As Naruto thought over it more, he realized that this was a little awkward. The person who wrote this was definitely in some kind of war, so how could they be so calm and collected to write a virtually perfect letter? It didn't make any sense.

The Hokage then looked at the rest of the letters on his desk. Maybe if he read another one, he could find out more about who these people were. For some reason, Naruto felt as if he had to find out. Now.

"Hmm…" the boy picked up another scroll and slowly unraveled it. The handwriting on the scroll looked a lot different than the first one, and the lines looked sloppy. Naruto looked at the name on the scroll, and it read 'Minato.' This one was dated to be one week after the first scroll's date.

"This must've been her reply," he pondered aloud. The boy was about to read it when he sensed a familiar chakra. Naruto put the scroll down and greeted his visitor without looking up, "Oi, Kaka-sensei."

"Morning, Naruto," Kakashi chirped as he squatted on the far windowsill. He seemed to be in a good mood now that things were finally settled and done. Now he had all the time in the world to read his fantasy novels, "Where is everybody?"

Naruto looked at him with a smile, "I gave everyone the day off. I think it was about time for them to get some 'R and R'." At this his old sensei smiled with his eyes,

"That's nice of you." The Copy Ninja then looked at Naruto for some time.

The boy raised an eyebrow, slightly irked at his sensei's sudden staring, "What?"

Kakashi blinked before he questioned lightly, "How does it feel?"

Naruto knew exactly what he meant. He looked out the window closest to him and widened his smile, "Pretty good, Kaka-sensei."

The silver-haired shinobi then noticed the scrolls on Naruto's desk. His eyes widened in pleasant surprise. Naruto was still looking out the window when Kakashi spoke, "Save the red one for last."

The Hokage spun around, "Huh?"

No one.

Naruto pursed his lips at his sensei's hasty disappearance before thinking his words over. He looked back to the scrolls and noticed the bands on them for the first time. There were five scrolls with green bands (including the first one he read), five scrolls with blue bands, and one scroll with a red band. When he picked up the one he was about to read, he looked it over for any other markings that he should note. On one of the ends of the scroll, there was a number '2' etched in. The boy then checked the first scroll he read and found that it had the number '1' etched in on the side. Good, so he was reading in order so far, if that was what the numbers meant. Checking all of the other scrolls, Naruto lined them up in order and placed them neatly in the drawer. He whispered to himself with a frown, "Wow, this Minato guy is already getting to me."

Without another interruption, he grabbed the second letter and started reading.

_Dear Minato,_

_I'm glad that you aren't in as much danger as I anticipated. When you left, everyone else started leaving, as well. I broke my leg yesterday trying to master a new taijutsu move that I wanted to show you when you came back. Oh, well. I'm suspended for 3 _(which was scratched and replaced with a '4') _weeks, so no missions for me until then. Please tell me you'll be back by then? I have a feeling this war will get a lot worse really soon. _

_A new jutsu? Don't overwork yourself, Minato._

_I did see the flowers. Lisianthus, very appropriate. And don't worry; your place is fine, I guess. I can smell you, and that's enough for me. The neighbors come often to tend to my leg and bake me food, so I'm not totally alone. I'll start the garden as soon as I can walk properly. Why is it that I'm not good at most things, but I'm good at something as _girly _as gardening?_

_Come back soon, Minato. Your girlfriend down the street misses you. _

_-Kushina _

_P.S. – This better not be the last time you write to me._

Naruto blinked a couple times when he finished reading. A few seconds passed before he screamed at the letter as if it were a person, "Gardening is _not _girly! And what the heck is a Lisianthus?" He huffed and sat back down, for he was completely out of his seat. Realizing that his shoulders were too worked up over this subject, he loosened up and slumped in his chair. Talk about overreacting, he thought to himself somberly. He just decided to ask Sakura or Ino what a Lisianthus was when he had the chance. Focusing back to the letter, he noticed a couple things. First, the lines slowly shifted to the right as they went down the page. There were some scratches here and there—really dark ones, too. This person must have been frustrated because instead of one-line cross-outs like most letters have, this one had very dark scribbles that poked out of the other side of the scroll. The writing style was definitely different, too. There were contraptions everywhere, unlike Minato's which had none. This person was so different. Either they were not as skilled in writing as Minato, or they just cared less of what their letter looked like. As long it got the point across, it was fine. Naruto kind of liked that.

He chuckled to himself as he reached for the next scroll. This was getting more intriguing with each letter, Naruto thought. From reading the second letter, he deducted that this 'Kushina' person was a ninja—a reckless one at that. Naruto also picked up that there was definitely a war going on, Kushina was a tough person but also protective of Minato since she was telling him to lay off the jutsu training, and that Minato had a girlfriend.

This Minato person was something else, wasn't he?

Naruto pondered over both letters for some time. So these two people weren't lovers, but rather really good friends, it seems like. Minato came across as an intellectual kind of guy, and Kushina seemed to be tomboyish who considered gardening as something girly. Naruto huffed at that. Just from these two letters, he was becoming more and more interested in getting to know these two people. Maybe they had some connection to his…

The Hokage shook his head at the thought. He was about to snatch the third scroll off his desk when he heard a knock at the door. The Hokage called from his desk, snapping out of his concentration, "Uh… Yes?"

A muffled "Naruto!" came from behind the door, which sounded like Sakura's voice. Naruto blinked and called,

"C-Come in!"

The door opened to reveal Naruto's pink-haired teammate. She was carrying some papers with her and she walked up to the desk with a smile, "Morning, Naruto-sama!"

The boy winced at the suffix, "Ehh, please just call me 'Naruto,' Sakura. I like it better when you do that."

The kunoichi blushed slightly. She had a whole new regard for her old teammate after the war was over. When Sasuke died, she thought she would feel so much pain. To be honest, she felt as if a huge burden had lifted from her shoulders. She didn't feel the need to cry or sulk for hours on end, but instead smile and accept his demise. Now, Sakura's affection was fully for Naruto, not just because he was the Hokage now, but because he did this all for her. Only then did she realize how much she meant to this boy. Even though she was so mean to him at the start, she asked him to do just one thing for her, and he did. Sometimes she couldn't even look into his eyes because of the level of shame she had. Not once did she do something for Naruto, and he ended up killing his best friend for her. For his village. He was truly a hero.

Naruto's words halted her train of thought, "Uh, Sakura?"

She shook her head and blinked at him, "H-Huh?"

The Hokage furrowed his brows, "You came to see me?"

The girl stuttered once again, cursing to herself, "Dyuh, uh… I did some of your paperwork for you, since you've had a rough week."

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head. Sakura was doing too much for him, and he wanted her to rest. He chose his words carefully because he didn't want to seem ungrateful, "Thank you, Sakura. That means a lot to me; but, I gave you a day off. I would like it if you rested, too."

The girl frowned at him. Did he say something wrong? Naruto was about to apologize when she half-smiled, "It's okay, Naruto. I just wanted to do something for you, since—"

"—Sakura," Naruto eyed her sternly. Now he knew why she did this for him, "You don't have to do anything for me."

Sakura sighed and mumbled something under her breath. The Hokage tiled his head, "What's wrong?"

His visitor stared out the window, watching someone tending to their laundry outside, "Can I at least get you some ramen?"

Naruto chuckled, "Sure! But…" He looked at the scrolls lying on his desk and the rest of them in the drawer. Sakura followed his line of vision and asked him what he was doing.

"Oh, I just found these scrolls in this drawer an hour ago. I've been reading them…"

Sakura furrowed her brows, "Really? You just found them there? I thought we had this whole office cleaned out before you came in."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "I know, I even checked the drawer before and found nothing in it. When I looked in it again, the scrolls were there." He didn't mention to her the thump he heard before the scrolls showed up.

"Do you want us to look at them?" By 'us,' she meant the investigation unit. Naruto shook his head and said that there was no need. It seemed that Kakashi already knew what they were since he gave advice regarding them, so they should have been fine.

Sakura sighed, "Well, are you coming or not?"

Naruto bit his lip, "I don't think I'm allowed out of the office."

At his remark, his teammate giggled, "It's not like you to follow the rules."

"Sakura," Naruto replied a bit too strongly, "That was the old me."

The girl was taken aback. Since when was Naruto like this? She assumed that the title of Hokage put a lot more pressure on Naruto than he anticipated, and that he assumed way too much responsibility up until now. Sakura understood his wishes, but still worried a little that his social life might change soon. She decided to just get him some ramen anyways, but she would bring it to the office herself. Sakura nodded and said softly before leaving,

"I'll be back, then."

Naruto watched as she walked to the door. He then remembered something he needed to ask her, "Sakura!"

She turned back with a sparkle in her eye, "What is it, Naruto?"

Naruto furrowed his brows, "What's a Lisianthus?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "It's a flower. Why?"

Naruto looked down at the second scroll he read and asked, "Does it have some special meaning or something? I know different flowers have meanings, but I've never heard of a Lisianthus."

The girl turned back around so she was fully facing him, "If I remember correctly, Ino told me what that flower stood for. I think it means 'calmness' or 'calming,' something like that."

Naruto smiled back, "Thanks!" He looked back at the scrolls and picked up the one that said '3' on the side. "This one's to Kushina," he said to himself, ignoring Sakura already. She saw this as her cue to go, so she headed out the door, closing it slowly.

"Hmm… calming…" Naruto immersed in his thoughts again as he unrolled the third scroll.

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To be continued...

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Note: What will Minato say in his next letter? Find out next chapter! Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


	3. More Thought

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto._

_

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_

III.

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He skimmed over the letter, proving his claim that it was Minato's reply by noticing the insanely straight lines. Naruto kept unrolling the scroll as he skimmed, noticing that it went on forever. He deadpanned and thought to himself, "This is ridiculous… dattebayo…" He hadn't said his trademark phrase in a while, so this letter must have been enormous. Since he figured he needed to read it eventually in order to find out who these two people were, Naruto just decided to get right to it. He started to read:

_Dear Kushina, _

_You broke your leg trying to learn a new Taijutsu move and you are telling _me _not to overwork myself? That is so like you. It reminds me of that time when you almost broke your leg trying to paint the first Hokage's face on the mountain. It was priceless seeing Hiruzen's reaction when he saw his own statue covered in graffiti. You were lucky I was there to catch you when you lost control over your chakra. Well, you know I hope you get better soon. I do not know when I will be back, to be honest. It is hard to tell when everything over here will end definitely. _

_She is not my girlfriend, Kushina. You know that the only girl I can tolerate is you. _

_Sorry that I have not written anything in a while; our post just recently had a wave of infiltrations. Most of the Konoha jonins north of our post could not make it through, so we went over to cover for them. Just recently, Shikaku and Inoichi joined up with us at the post just on the border. They happen to have vital information concerning the enemy down here, so I made a three-man team with them. We are currently making preparations to go scout the rest of the area for any signs of advancement. _

_Do not worry about me so much, Kushina. The jutsu I am working on will become a necessity in the coming hours of war. It will take a long time before I can perfect it. Besides, you were the person who inspired me to develop it in the first place. _

_Kushina, gardening may seem like a petty, womanly chore, but it shows the level of patience and consideration a person has. Not many people tend to gardens because they do not believe they have to put so much effort into such things. There are not many people out there who can do such a thing as gardening, and that brings out your character. You truly are a determined and strong-willed person, Kushina, so there would be no one else to ask but you. _

_So how have things been? I heard there was a new ramen place in town, and apparently the food there is delicious. _

_I should go now. Sorry if this letter was too long, I just have a lot of free time right now. I also feel bad that I have not written to you in a while. _

_Sincerely,_

_Minato_

_P.S. – No, this will not be the last time I write to you. _

Naruto sighed as he put down the scroll, "This is crazy." Suddenly, he felt his stomach rumble for a good three seconds. The Hokage clenched his teeth and grabbed his clothing with a growl, "Ugh…" Now he wished he went to get ramen with Sakura. Of course the letter had to mention ramen.

Naruto then got up out of his seat to stretch. It had been a long morning, and he was getting antsy to do something in the fresh air. He threw a few punches into the air to get his blood going, and a few roundhouse kicks to go with them. As he went into a full-blown exercise routine, he started to subconsciously think about Minato's reply, _Somehow, I feel like I should know who this person is... _So this Kushina person tried to paint the Hokage face, as well? Now that's interesting. Only he would be so rash to do something like that!

He also noted that the two must have spent a lot of time together when they were kids. Maybe they were best friends? Naruto also thought about the way Minato was addressing Kushina in this letter; it was as if he got into caring a lot more about her. Also, Naruto was really interested in what jutsu this person was talking about. In the end, Naruto was full of questions still unanswered. Even though he was starting to get frustrated, the boy was especially fond of Minato's position on gardening. Because of his words, Naruto was actually more proud of being a gardener now.

His thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on the door.

Naruto gasped and sat back in his seat, "C-Come in!"

The door opened to reveal someone Naruto was not expecting, "Hey, Naruto."

"I-Ino-chan? What are you doing here?"

The girl frowned in disgust, "It's nice to see you, too, Mr. Hokage."

The boy scratched his head and sweat-dropped, "Sorry… You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," Yamanaka said with a new expression. She was smiling now. Everyone seemed to suddenly brighten up when they were around Naruto. It was one of the main reasons he made a great Hokage. Ino continued, "I was just wondering if you wanted some flowers to, you know, make this office a bit more exciting?"

Naruto gasped in joy, "Yeah! I would love some flowers! Thanks!"

Ino laughed with a blush, "Heh, okay!"

There was a little pause after that, so it became awkward in the room. Ino then blushed harder, turning to leave before Naruto could see her red-faced. No one could blame her for blushing so hard. Call it being out-of-character, but almost every girl in the village wanted to get their hands on the young Hokage. Ino was just one of the fan-girls. She was about to leave when Naruto called out to her,

"Uh, Ino?"

The girl squeaked and stopped in her place, not turning around, "Y-Yes?"

"Can you get me a Lisianthus?"

Ino turned around to face him, all the blush from her face gone out of shock from Naruto's request. She furrowed her brows slightly, "Really?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Why was everyone so shocked when he mentioned that flower? He questioned Ino , "Why? What's wrong with a Lisianthus?"

"Oh, nothing," Ino suppressed a laugh, "It's just such a _girly _flower."

At this Naruto just laughed lightly, "I don't mind." Ah, so that was it. It's fine; he liked the idea of having something that symbolized "calmness" in his sight. There was no other word that could describe the coming years of his reign.

Ino just shrugged her shoulders and left, closing the door slightly.

After a few minutes of just staring at nothing in particular, Naruto swiveled towards the window again. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a nice sleep… Until his stomach interrupted him again.

"Dang…"

He needed ramen.

Now.

Boy, did Sakura have the best timing ever.

"Naruto! Naruto!" The Hokage heard his name being called from behind his door again. So many visits in one day, he thought. He was getting a little tired of saying,

"Come in!"

Suddenly a very familiar smell came to his nose, and he sat up in his chair. _This is… _

"Naruto, I got you some ramen. I hope it's okay with you that—"

"—Thank you, Sakura! You're the best!" Sakura didn't even notice the bowl's being snatched from her hands. In the moment she blinked, Naruto had already taken the bowl of ramen and went back to his seat, slurping up the contents vigorously.

The kunoichi couldn't believe her eyes, "So… So fast…" She still couldn't believe that Naruto had changed so much in the past years. Not only were he more mature, but his movements and skills increased exponentially. Kakashi even had trouble keeping up with him on their sparring dates nowadays. Sakura was too scared to even face him, even when he said he'd take it easy on her. She mentally cursed herself from thinking about Naruto a little too much for her character lately, and she had to look down, away from him.

Within a minute the Hokage was already down to the last drop of broth. He licked his lips and gave a sigh of relief, "Ahhh, thank you, Sakura. That was delicious."

This made Sakura blush, "Uh… you're welcome, Naruto."

The boy tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow, "Is something wrong?"

The kunoichi just smiled nervously, "Heh… Umm… it's just that… Well… I made that myself. That was what I meant to tell you before you took the bowl from me…"

Naruto gaped slightly, taken completely by surprised, "Sakura… you…?"

She could only nod.

Then, Naruto lips slipped into a grin, "That's great! You should start your own restaurant or something! I would totally go there!"

Sakura gaped, then she huffed, "I'm not _that_ good, Naruto. Baka." She left before Naruto could say anything to retort. She shut the door and exhaled, shaking her head and banging it with her hand.

Alone again, the Hokage just scratched his head, "What's wrong with everyone?" Shrugging it off, he went back to his reading. Naruto took up the next scroll he had to read, already wondering what it said inside.

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To be continued...

Note: Thanks for reading! Coming up: what will Kushina say to Minato? Will Minato stay out at war, or will he come back? You guys - and Naruto himself - will find out!

Note 2: If you guys do not know what a Lisianthus looks like, look it up! It is actually a very pretty flower.

Note 3: So I have heard that the movie The Last Airbender was quite bad, but I've waited so long to watch it that I might go see it anyways. What should I do? Go watch it or just wait until it comes out on DVD?


	4. Three Words

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto. _

Note: Sorry for the severely late update! I know a ton of people thought I had abandoned this story completely ( I would have, too...) but to be honest, I just had some major plot holes to take care of. Don't worry, I will work on this story more because I myself am falling in love with where this story is going to go. A friend of mine actually gave me the right motivation to continue this, by the way, so everybody thank Chris!

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IV.

* * *

Naruto kept thinking to himself about how these letters could have gotten to his desk in the first place. When he heard the thump, he just figured that they rolled out from some secret compartment inside the desk, near the drawer. Checking again, he opened the drawer with one hand. Still holding the fourth scroll in his other hand, he kept his free hand on the desk and peered inside. Looking both ways, he didn't find any signs of a secret hiding place. Pulling his head back out, he scowled in puzzlement.

It must have been a jutsu.

It had to be.

The confusion was starting to overwhelm him as the questions came flooding back to his head. Not wanting to wait any longer, he unrolled the scroll. To Naruto's surprise, it was pretty short.

_Minato, _

_I started on your freakin' garden. You happy? Yeah, so that means I'm walking now. I hated wearing those stupid white bandages on my leg, so I just chopped them off and starting walking around the house. I got my leg functioning in no time. Pretty amazing, right? _

_Hmm, I guess that just reinforces your point on how I'm a strong-willed person, huh? People are amazed at how fast I healed. I kinda like the attention. _

_Well anyway, since I got back on my feet, I tried the ramen place. It's called Ichiraku, and it's so good! When you come back, we're going there. You're paying, of course. _

_-Kushina_

Naruto put down the letter with a smile on his face. "This Kushina person's awesome." He was about to get up out of his chair to stretch when he heard a thump behind him. Someone landed on one of the windowsills. The Hokage spun around and exclaimed, "Kaka-sensei!"

The Copy Ninja stepped into the room and greeted Naruto with a bow, "Hello again."

Naruto scratched his head with one hand while the other rested on one of the arms of the chair, "Where were you?"

Kakashi blinked a couple times and gave an embarrassed laugh, "Heh heh, I was just catching up on my reading."

_Just how many books did Jiraiya-sensei write before he died? _ Naruto pondered wryly to himself when Kakashi leaned against the huge desk. Naruto looked at the older ninja as he studied the scrolls on his table. Drawing a breath, Naruto asked, "Kaka-sensei, do you know what these are?"

"I do, actually," Kakashi answered matter-of-factly as he picked up the scroll Naruto just read. He looked up after quickly skimming it with a twinkle in his eye, "You don't?"

This time Naruto blinked, and he furrowed his brows. "Am I supposed to?" he asked with great consternation. He looked up at Kakashi, noting the faraway look in his eye.

Kakashi then strolled to the door of the office, and he looked back before opening it.

"What?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at his former sensei, "Did you need something, sensei?"

Kakashi just smiled at him before replying, "Have fun, Naruto." He then shut the door, leaving behind a very befuddled blond kid.

* * *

Naruto huffed at Kakashi's suspicious breaking and entering acts. What was that guy's deal anyway? So nosy. Looking down at the scrolls he had left to read, he noticed that there was only one green scroll left. After he read that one he could go on to reading the blue ones. Picking it up, he unraveled it and started to read.

* * *

Strolling down the streets absentmindedly, Kakashi slowly but surely made his way to his apartment. Jumping up onto his balcony, he nimbly made his way inside. And people wondered why he always used windows to get into places… He used that method to get into his own place! Truth be told, he lost the key to his own door, but for some reason the window was broken and couldn't be shut all the way, so he just used that as a means to get in.

After placing his book back in between _Icha Icha Paradise_ and _Icha Icha Make Out Tactics_, the Copy Ninja made his way to his little table lying dormant in his kitchen. On it were a ton of neglected papers, unnecessary weapons, and a little scroll that wasn't there until a couple hours ago. When he woke up that morning, he heard a thump in the kitchen. Thinking he had someone else in his territory (and pissed that he didn't even sense their chakra) he silently stalked toward the sound. Peering about his humble abode lazily, he only noticed that there was a little scroll on his table that looked out of place. Scratching his head, he made his way toward the parchment. Picking it up, he quickly noted that the only thing that held it together was a red string; it didn't even have the regular seal on it. Sliding the string off, he unraveled it and skimmed it.

Realization hit him.

"Se…Sensei?"

The ninja stumbled a little and almost dropped the scroll. Feeling a little awkward for being a little too shocked for his taste, he faked a cough and straightened up. Reading the whole thing over, he kept wondering how the hell his former teacher got this to him. It read:

_Kakashi,_

_If you have gotten this, Naruto has received the scrolls that Kushina and I have saved over the years. They will appear in the Hokage desk drawer where I have already placed a seal when I had occupied that seat. If both Kushina and I were ever killed before Naruto was born, I placed that seal there to transport the scrolls to him at the proper time. My son deserves to have some proof that his mother and father loved him very much, even if he never got to feel their love from the very beginning. _

_Also, I had this specific table put in your possession so that this scroll would be sent to you personally (there is a seal placed on the inside of one of the legs). What I need you to do is visit Naruto as soon as you finish this letter to tell him to save the red one for last. _

_Take care, Kakashi. _

_-Minato_

The silver-haired jonin relaxed his surprisingly tense shoulders; just reading the scroll gave him goosebumps. Without hesitating, he dressed in simple attire and went to pay a visit to Naruto, by jumping into one of his windows, of course.

* * *

"Naruto!"

The Hokage jumped and called out, "C-Come in!" He didn't even get past the first word before someone called his name. When the door opened, it was Sakura yet again.

He could get used to seeing her open the door again and again.

"Sakura, is something wrong?"

The young lady just shook her head, "I was wondering where Kaka-sensei was. Did he happen to stop by?"

Uzumaki blinked and pondered aloud, "Didn't he just walk out the door?"

Sakura cocked her head to the side, "Did he?" She turned around quickly and looked at the door.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, he just left a few seconds ago!"

Sakura turned back to him, "No, I was asking if he actually used the door…"

The both of them were silent before Naruto moved the scroll around on the wooden surface of his desk. "Heh, well I guess something new happens every day…"

This time, Sakura questioned Naruto about the content of the letters, "Say, Naruto, what are you reading anyway? Those don't look like ordinary scrolls, and you _never _read."

Chuckling, Naruto replied, "I actually don't know. You don't happen to know a 'Minato' or 'Kushina,' do you?"

Sakura gasped and bolted for the table, "Let me see!"

As she was about to snatch the letters away, Naruto hastily held them all in his arms, "Whoa, what's with the sudden interest?"

Sakura's eyes brightened up, "You don't know who Minato is? Only the hottest shinobi to ever have walked the earth! I can't believe you don't know him, and I can't believe you have his scr—"

"—Well I'm sorry I don't keep up with shinobi celebrities, Sakura-chan!"

The kunoichi stopped and withdrew from the desk. She looked incredulously at Naruto. "You don't… You don't know who the fourth Hokage was?"

Silence.

Followed by more silence.

Naruto dropped the scrolls, scattering them everywhere on the floor. The one he held in his hand was shaking as he suddenly realized what he had been reading all along.

If Minato was the fourth Hokage… And the fourth Hokage was his father… Then these letters are between—

"—Mom! Dad!"

Sakura jumped back and yelled back, "What are you talking about, Naruto?"

He didn't seem to hear her, though, for he was picking up all the scrolls on the floor, talking rapidly and giddily to himself. Sakura decided that she should leave lest he get any loopier. She decided to continue on her quest to look for Kakashi. And while she was at it, she might as well ask him about Naruto's strange behavior.

Opening the fifth and last green scroll, Naruto finally was able to read it in peace.

Too bad it was only one line.

_Kushina, _

_I'm coming home._

_-Minato_

For some reason, those three words sent a tear down Naruto's cheek.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Note: Thank you guys for reading! Tell me what you guys think!


	5. The First Blue Scroll

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto._

* * *

V.

* * *

"Minato… What on earth are you doing?"

The man in the blue long-sleeved shirt looked up from his scroll and gave a light smile. With a soft voice, he replied, "Just writing something."

Kushina folded her arms over her slightly bulging belly, huffing, "Again with the cryptic answers. I told you not to do this when I'm pregnant. Idiot…"

Minato just put the scroll down on the wooden desk he was sitting at and walked over to his wife. Lifting one of his arms, he gently caressed her fiery red locks before moving his hand down to cup her chin. Tilting her face up, Minato kissed her forehead as light as he could. "I wasn't being cryptic, love. Sorry for angering you."

Not having any more strength to argue, his lover could only lean into his chest and smell his clothes. It reminded her of the first time she had encountered his familiar smell, high up on the treetop he rescued her on. She took a moment to reminisce, closing her eyes. On her back, she could feel Minato's hand rubbing her gently and she could feel his breath running through her hair. Whispering, she said, "How do you do that?"

Minato raised an eyebrow at her question and looked down at her red head. "Do what?"

Kushina pinched her eyebrows together slightly, already berating herself for ruining the moment; as soon as she asked him that question Minato's hand stopped its relaxing stroke on her back. She just decided not to say anything, wanting nothing else but his hand to gently rub her again. It had been hard, after all, carrying a life inside of her. At first she had no problems, and she even got to the point of showing off to her husband just how much she could still do with an extra load on her chest. However, the past few weeks have been especially hard, and her back was constantly aching from nonstop work.

After a few moments, Kushina didn't say anything, so Minato could tell that she wasn't really looking for an answer to her question. Years of knowing her trained him to recognize all of her little gestures and quirks. If anything, she was just voicing what was in her head. And, judging from the lack of words, there was probably something else on her mind. Glancing at his wife, he noticed the tiny sheen of sweat on her brow, and in an instant he found his answer. Resting his head back on hers, he went back to stroking her back, finding and pressing out all the kinks that her muscles had acquired over the long hours of the day.

Kushina smiled into Minato's clothing, still in awe of how well he knew her. As soon as she was satisfied, all hints of anger and frustration gone from her body, she slowly untangled herself from her husband's embrace and looked him in the eye. Without missing a beat, Kushina asked, "Can I see what you're writing?"

There was a flicker of uncertainty in Minato's eyes when he looked at her, but he flashed her a smile right afterwards and guided her to the nearest piece of furniture for her to rest on. When she settled on the couch, the blond fetched the scroll he was writing on and made his way to sit down next to Kushina. When he unraveled the parchment, the woman next to him peered at its contents, eyes shifting up and down the page.

After she scanned the writing over, Kushina looked at Minato with a confused expression. "What is this?"

He looked down at the page, almost lovingly. "Something for our child," he murmured.

Kushina raised an eyebrow before scanning the contents of the scroll a second time. Wanting there to be some hidden meaning in between the lines, she slowly pondered aloud, "Uhh… But… this is just…"

* * *

_Week 21_

_Monday: Trained for a couple hours. Time: 0:02.12. Went to the market to grab fish, tomatoes, cabbage, salted pork, apples, pears, watermelon, figs, beef, dango, chocolate, carrots, and twenty-three cups of cup ramen for Kushina. Took Kushina to Ichiraku three times. _

_Tuesday: Finished half of the reports for the month before taking a break to exercise at the Training Grounds for an hour. Time: 0:02.09. Came back to Kushina making dinner. Her cooking is much better than mine. _

_Wednesday: Trained early in the morning. Time: 0:01.43. Finished one report before silently making my way out of the office. Went to go make Kushina lunch in thanks for the dinner yesterday. She was nice enough to sit through the whole thing even though I messed up the broth. Took her to Ichiraku for dinner to make up for the ramen failure. _

_Thursday: Still managed to escape the office before anyone could catch me. Went to visit Kushina back at the house, but she was still asleep. Trained for a couple hours before going back to the office and worked on the reports all day. Time: 0:01.32. Lectured by my subordinates for a few hours. Went to Ichiraku to bring something home for Kushina. _

_Friday: Reports. After getting down to a third of the pile, went to go train for three hours. Time: 0:01.12. Made another trip to the market for another round of groceries and ramen. Had a nice dinner with Kushina and sat on the roof of our apartment to look at the stars. _

Naruto put down the first blue scroll and scratched his head. "This is totally different from before…" He skimmed the scroll over again, pondering its contents. What were these letters for? What did it mean by 'Week 21?' Was that the twenty-first week of their marriage? For one thing, he was proud of his dad for training everyday—not that he was surprised. He had heard countless stories of the Fourth Hokage's greatness, and his favorite part of those stories was how people always mentioned how hard he trained. Of course, his sharp mind and high level of intelligence boosted his credibility as the greatest shinobi to have walked the earth; but, Naruto firmly believed that his dad wanted to convey to everyone that training was the final deciding factor.

"But… What's with this 'Time' thing he wrote during each day," Naruto wondered aloud. He tried to guess that that was how long he spent training, but Minato would already specify how long he trained for before that. Then he thought that it was the time of day he went to train, but that ended up not making any sense either.

There were so many questions that arose in Naruto's head, only adding to the stress that the previous letters had given him.

He figured out one thing for sure, though: exactly where his ramen obsession came from.

The young man couldn't help but smile at his mom. It sounded like he would've really loved her, and just from these scribbled events, Naruto could tell just how much his parents loved each other.

Loved him.

The Hokage peered out the window with watery eyes, noticing that the sun was making its way down to the horizon. High above, the sky was slowly changing into its nightly colors; the clouds turned silvery from the approaching light of the moon. With a passing thought, Naruto realized that he had stayed in his office the entire day. He got up from his chair and walked to the window, looking down at Konoha's streets.

A million thoughts ran through his head, the prominent one being _I wonder if Dad did this same exact thing… _

The lines of laundry serving as thin bridges between buildings swayed in the breeze, ruffling the articles of clothing in soft waves. A genin team ran through the streets chasing a black cat, probably all exhausted for trying all day to catch the feline. Naruto chuckled at this, remembering way back to when his team was that young and innocent. He put his arm down on the windowsill and put his chin in his hand. His white cape flowed down his body and his blond locks swayed lightly in the breeze. Peering down at the Konoha scenery, Naruto spotted numerous people still roaming the dirt roads, checking into their homes or finding good places to eat.

Come to think of it, Naruto could use a good place to eat right now.

And the many mentions of Ichiraku in the last letter he read only inflamed his cravings.

With one final glance at the city, he turned around and put the scroll he read last back into the drawer in its exact place. Before shutting the wooden contraption, Naruto glanced over the scrolls tenderly. He reached with one hand and softly ran it over the colored pieces of parchment, a chill creeping up his spine. To think that these scrolls were touched by his parents, it was an ethereal feeling to experience.

Finally, Naruto brought his hand back to his side and shut the drawer slowly. He walked around his desk and made his way to the door of his office, a look of content on his face.

After he opened the door, the Hokage hesitated to leave, scared that the letters would disappear as soon as he left them. However, he shook it off and told himself not to be silly; they would still be there when he got back.

When Naruto made it to the dirt road, he looked around at Konoha's nightly life before stuffing his hands in his pockets. He started for Ichiraku when he heard his name being called.

"Naruto!"

She was everywhere today!

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto held up his hand to greet her as she walked toward him.

When she was close enough, she gave him a weird look. "You actually stayed in there all day..."

Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment. Shakingly, he replied, "Yeah… Those letters are keeping me interested, that's for sure."

Sakura could only nod. She was shocked when Naruto finally told her about his new findings. She wanted to ask to read them also, but she figured that those letters were meant to be just for him. Sakura teared up at the idea of the letters, though. At last, Naruto had something of substance to remind him that his parents did exist. There was no question that the letters were real; the mark of the Fourth Hokage was on every single one, also on the inside of the desk drawer. This was the closest thing that Naruto had to his parents, so it really was no wonder that he stayed in his office all day reading them.

There was an awkward pause as Sakura poured over her thoughts, but with one glance at Naruto, she could tell that he was in his own train of thought as well. Deciding to break the atmosphere, Sakura chirped, "You're going to Ichiraku, huh?"

Naruto widened his eyes and rubbed his belly that just released a fatal growl. "Ehh… Yeah…"

Sakura huffed, feigning annoyance, "Hmm, I guess my ramen didn't satisfy you after all. You even acted like you enjoyed it, too."

The man waved his arms in defense. "No, Sakura-chan! It really was good but that was four hours ago! Don't hurt me!"

Sakura laughed at the irony of the situation. Naruto could beat her in a heartbeat, but there he was, clad in Hokage fitting, telling her not to hurt him.

To be honest, it was kind of endearing.

Sakura just punched him in the arm lightly. "Idiot. I was joking!"

Naruto blinked a couple times before straightening up and laughing. "You're mean, Sakura-chan."

Their jabs at each other lasted them all the way to Ichiraku.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Note: Yay! Minato and Kushina finally made their appearance in the story! They are so fun to write. If you want me to include them in future chapters (of if you don't) then let me know!

Note 2: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! They seriously encourage me to keep going with this story! Thanks for reading!


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